Airship.



I. ALLEN.

AIRSHIP.

APPLIOATION FILED Nov.1s, 1912.

Patented Sept. :23,` 1913 3 slnmswsnnn'r 1.

I. ALLEN.

AIRSHIP.

APPLIQATION funn Nov.18, 1912.

1,6%,031 Pamnted sepa 23, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

"5 www @i Ira A\ em# IRA ALLEN, OF DANSVILLE, NEW YORK.

AIRSHIP.

17 '0 all fui/1,0m t may concern:

e it known that I, IRA ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dansville, in the county of Livingston and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Airships, of which the following is a specitication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawinO. 4

rrlhis invention relates to flying machines of the dirigible type, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a flying" machine of this type 1n which the propel-I ling and controlling me: as are mounted upon and within the gas bag.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide an improved manner for mounting the forward and rear propellers so that they may be turned horizontally in order to assist in guiding the a'irshi'p. i

Anot er object of the invention is to provide an improved means for driving the forward and side propellers so that the rotation of the propellers may be controlled.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved type of pendulum which is carried by the gas bag and which steadies i the machine when in flight.

This invention is illustrated in the accom panying drawings, wherein:-

Figure 1 is a top plan View of the ma chine with the central portion o1 the gas bag broken away. Fig. 2 is a transverse section along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse section along the line 3-3 in Fig. 1. Fig. t is a side elevation ot' the flying machine with the central portion broken away to show the arrangement of the driving and controlling means. Fig. 5 is a fragmentar bottom plan view oi one end of the gas ag. Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 6 6 in Fig. 5. l

Referring to the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that this invention comprises a car 10 which is supported from the gas bag 11 by means of the rods l2. llicse nids p 12 are secured to the. sides and ends of the gas bag and to the bottom` olf' the car so that the car will be securely held in place.

The gas bag comprises tbe outer 'asiug 13 which is substantially elliptical in cross section andn in longitudinal section, and is divided by theppartitions 111 and 15 into the central chamber 16 `and the end chambers. Each `ol' the end chambers is divided longi- S-pecication of Letters Patent.

Application led November 18, 1912.y

Patented Sept. No,

Serial No. 732,122.

tudinally to l'orm the central chamber 17 and the side chambers 18. A large gas bag 1S) is mounted in cach of' the central chainbers 17 and smaller gas bags' Q0 are mounted in the side chambers 18. W hen these bags 19 and 20 are inflated they provide the supporting means for holding the flying machine in the air. Each ot' these gas bags is provided with a valve 21 so that they may be independently inflated, and, therelore7 if one of the gas bags leaks the 'remaining bags will not need to be emptied in order to repair the leak. This also permits the remaining gas bags to support the machine if the. leak occurs while a flight is being made.

A shaft extends transversely through the central chamber 1G and comprises the two sections 9.2 and 23. These sections each extend through the central bearing Q11 of a yoke 25 and carry a beveled gear Q6 at its outer end which gear meshes with a beveled gear 27 rigidly mounted upon the axle 2S rotatably mounted in the arms of the yoke A propeller blade 29 is mounted upon the forward end of the axle 28 to assist in driving the airship. A, wheel 10 is provided at the inner ends ofv each of the hearings 21 so that the yoke may be turned thus directing the air current created by the propellers 29 and assisting in keeping the airship upon an even keel. mounted in the central chamber and is provided with a pulley wheel 32 upon its driving shaft. This pulley wheel is eonnected with a pulley wheel B rigidly mounted upon the sha't't section 23 by means of? the belt 311. ll't will thus be seen that when the engine is started the section Q3 of the transverse shaft 'will be rotated and as will be hereinafter brought out, the remaining prf pellers are driven from this section 23.

A longitudinally extending shaft 35 has its ends mounted in the partitions lland 15 and carries beveled gears 3G and 237 near ils center, these beveled gears meshing with A. niotor 8l is beveled gears 38 and 39 rigidly mounted" upon the inner ends of the sections 22 and 2; oil the transversely extending shaft. Beveled gears 40 and 4-1 are mounted upon each end of the shaft.35,.the bevelen gears 4() limiting,r the longitudinal movement ofx the shaft 35. A lever 42 is connected with the shaft 35 and is adapted to be rocked to move the`shaft 85 longitudinally thus selectively bringing either the beveled gear 36 or the beveled gear 37 into engagement with the beveled gears 38 and 39. It will thus be seen that by adjusting the shaft 35 longitudinally the' direction in which the propeller blades 29 rotate may be regulated.

' A vertical shaft 43 is mounted in each end of the central chamber 16 and is provided at its-lower end with a beveled gear 44 with which one of the beveled gears 40 or 41 meshes. In accordance with the-direction in which the shaft 35 is moved ,the shaft 43 will be' rotated, the gear 41 causingit to rotate -in an opposite direction to'thegear 40 and thus the direction in which the forward and rear propellers rotate may be regulated. A vertical shaft 45 is mounted in a bracket 46 and is provided at its upper end with a pulley Wheel 47 which is connect-ed with a pulley wheel 48 by means of a belt 49. When the shaft 43 is rotated the belt 49 will cause the shaft 45 to rotate, and this shaft 45 will rotate the shaft 50 through the medium of the beveled gears 5l and 52.' 4The shaft() passes through a slot 53 formed in a yoke 54 and carries at its outer end a propeller blade 55.

A shaft 56 is rotatably mounted in a set of brackets 57 and is provided with a wheel 58 so that the shaft may be rotated. A cable 59 has its ends wound upon the shaft 56 in opposite directions andhas its central.

portion passing around a pulley wheel 60 rigidly mounted upon the upper end of a. Yvertical shaft' 61. This shaft 61 passes through a standard 62 carried by the yoke 54 and has its lower end provided with a gear wheel G3 which meshes with a rack 64.

This rack 64 is provided with a lip 65 which travels in a groove formed in the yoke 54 above the slot rlherefore, it will be readily seenA that when the shaft 5G is turned, it will cause the shaft (51 to rotate and thus move the rack G4 and ,swing the shaft 50. rthe forward and rear propellers are driven' and operated in a similar inanner and. therefore, it will be seen that the description of one of these propellers will serve for both. lt will also be'V seen that these propellers may be independently adjusted as to their horizontal swingr but that they will be driven together, that is to say, when the shaft 35 isinoved longitudinally the rotation ot botlrol the propeller blades will be reversed. i

A shaft (3G is mounted in bearings (37 and carries a wheel (38 so that the shaft may be rotated. 'A' cable (it) is wound upon the shaft (36 and has its lower end connected with a toggle bracket 70. A weight 7l for establishing lateral equilibrium is at the lower end ofthe toggle bi'aeket and swings laterally wit-h the airship as the aix-ship tilts thus bringing the ail-ship back to the proper position. ly windingor unwinding` the cable (39 the length of the toggle 'bracket may dulum regu-lated.

In opera-ting this airship the engine is started and this causes the shaft section'23 to rotate. The longitudinally extending shaft 35 will then be' moved to bring either the gear 36 or the gear 37 into engagement with the gear 38 and thus the shaft 35- will VAbe adjusted and thus the swing of the penl be caused to rotate to operate the forward and rear Propellers. When the shaft 35 is adjusted either the gear 36 or 37 comes into engagement with the gear 39 and '.hfS Will cause the shaft section 22 to rotate thus rotating the'side propeller upon the opposite side of the airship from the motor. When it is desired to turn the ship, the Wheels 58 ma be rotated thus swinging t-he forwardA anc rear propellers and this will ,assisttheship in turning. The forward and rear propellers may be turnedv at any angle desired, after being independently operated. Ifl it is desired to reverse the rotation of the propeller blades, the shaft 35 is moved longitudinally and as the shaft is in the positionl shown in Fig. 1 this adjustment will bring the gear 36 into engagement with the gears 38 and 39 instead of the gear 37,1and bring the forward gear Wheels 40 and 41 into engagement with the beveled gears 44. When the shaft 35 has been thus moved it will cause the side and end propeller blades to be turned in an opposite direction from that in which they were traveling before Aand thus cause the ship to move in an opposite direction. The operator for the car slts in the central chamber 16 and the passengers or freight are carried in the car 10. By this arrangement the passengers or freight are carried beneath the supporting bag, whereas the operator is in a chamber inthe central portion of the ba and is, therefore, not liable to be interfere with by the passengers or freight.l l. l

lt should also be noted that the operating mechanism for the car does not talee up a lot ofroom in the car 10 and that it is so arranged that the operator may readily reach all of the parts of thecontrolling mechanisni.- V

llaving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

l. A flying machine comprising a supporting bag, a car suspended from said. supporting bag', said supporting bag being'provided with a chamber length, a yoke at each end ot saidbag, a vertical bearing at each end of said bag, a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in each of said bearings, a propeller shaft having one end pivotally mounted in said bearing and having its outer endr passing through a slot formed in'said yoke, gears connecting said vertical and propeller shafts, means for rotating said vertical sha l'ts to transmit power to?, said propeller shafts, propeller blades intermediate itsmounted u on said propeller shafts, a bearing carrie by each of said yokes, a vertical shaft mounted in each of said last mentioned bearings, a rack bar slidably connected with said yoke and provided with an opening through which said ropeller shaft passes, a gear Wheel carrie by said last mentioned vertical shaft and meshing with said rack har to move said rack bar and swing said propeller shaft when said last mentloned propeller shaft is rotated, means for rotating said last mentioned vertical shafts, and means in the chamber of said gas bav' for controlling the rotation of said propeler shafts and for controlling the ro tation of said last mentioned vertical shafts.

2. A iying machine comprising a gas bag rovded with a chamber intermediate its ength, a ear suspended from said gas bag, a yoke at each end of said gas bag, a ver tical shaft carried by said yoke, a rack bar vided with an opening intermediate its length, a pro y eller shaft pivotally connected witi the en( of said gas bag and passing through the opening' of Said rack bar and through a slot formed in said yoke, a vertical shaft carried by said gas bag for rotating said propeller shaft, means operated from Within said chamber for rotating said last mentioned vertical shaft, and means operated within said chamber for rotating said first mentioned vertical shaft to Swing said propeller shaft.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

` ll IRA ALLEN.

mark

Witnesses:

Gao. R. BROWN, E. R. WOODRUFF.

lslidahly 'connected with said yoke and pro- 4 

